Distinguish 7th/sus from major/min chords

Roentgen/All,
Can you please help on ways to identify the
7th/sus chords in a chord sequence?
When trying to identify chords for a song,
Usually get this wrong.
Are there any guidelines?
Thank you
Rajesh

Dominant 7th chords are bluesy; in C7 it is CEG & Bb. It gives a gloomy/serious tone to a major chord
Major 7th chords are jazzy, in CMaj7 it is CEG & B(just a half semitone higher than Dominant 7), this gives a dreamy feel to the chord,
Minor 7th Chords are addition of a minor 3rd to the perfect fifth; in Am7 it is ACE & G

It is out of practise and experience you will get it, Sus are just embellishments which has its roots in Country & Folk songs, Sus chords normally gives dissonance as they are neither major or minor with the presence of perfect 4th or major 2nd note in the chord and absence of major or minor3rd.
Dominant 7th is an essential component in Blues, distinguishing these different type of chords usually screws everybody, play them and check with listening closely to it, Lets hope that we build this skill out of experience, tuning your own guitar and distinguishing each note from the subtleties may be a good way to start with, training one's ear is the most difficult task and can be achieved out of experience I believe

hey my friend... K first let me explain you how chords form..for forming a chord you need to know scales ...for eg. If you want to know Cmajor chord...first you need to know the Cmajor scale ...there is a shortcut to find a scale...
Its WWHWWWH
in this W=whole note,H=half note
for eg.
C-D=whole note
C-C#=Half note
B-C=half note
E-F#=full note

so by applying the above formula we end up getting
C-D-E-F-G-A-B||C

now We have to take 3 alternative notes(major and minor are triads or 3 note chords ) so we'll take the notes from the 1st,3rd and 5th position which are CEG this is nothing but Cmajor chord

we can apply this rule for any major chords ...

now for minor chords the formula remains same but in this case you flat the 3rd,6th and 7th note...

so by taking the first 3 alternate notes from the scale after applying the flat notes in their respective positions we get
C- E-Gb
which is a minor chord

now coming to dominant 7th chords (these are 4 note chords)...
We will use the major scale formula only but this time we will take first 4 alternate notes and flatten the 7th note or the 4th alternate note
i.e C-E-G-Bb

which is C7th or C dominant 7th chord

now there are two types of suspended chords namely sus2 and sus4...
For sus 2 we will take the 1st,2nd and 5th note(2nd note thats why suspended 2) which is C-D-G and for sus 4 the notes used will be 1st ,4th and 5th note...so the chord tones would be C-F-G...hope it was clear to you...

hey my friend... K first let me explain you how chords form..for forming a chord you need to know scales ...for eg. If you want to know Cmajor chord...first you need to know the Cmajor scale ...there is a shortcut to find a scale...
Its WWHWWWH
in this W=whole note,H=half note
for eg.
C-D=whole note
C-C#=Half note
B-C=half note
E-F#=full note

so by applying the above formula we end up getting
C-D-E-F-G-A-B||C

now We have to take 3 alternative notes(major and minor are triads or 3 note chords ) so we'll take the notes from the 1st,3rd and 5th position which are CEG this is nothing but Cmajor chord

we can apply this rule for any major chords ...

now for minor chords the formula remains same but in this case you flat the 3rd,6th and 7th note...

so by taking the first 3 alternate notes from the scale after applying the flat notes in their respective positions we get
C- E-Gb
which is a minor chord

now coming to dominant 7th chords (these are 4 note chords)...
We will use the major scale formula only but this time we will take first 4 alternate notes and flatten the 7th note or the 4th alternate note
i.e C-E-G-Bb

which is C7th or C dominant 7th chord

now there are two types of suspended chords namely sus2 and sus4...
For sus 2 we will take the 1st,2nd and 5th note(2nd note thats why suspended 2) which is C-D-G and for sus 4 the notes used will be 1st ,4th and 5th note...so the chord tones would be C-F-G...hope it was clear to you...

..it was a typing error .i already mentioned flat 3rd..but neways thanks for pointing out my mistake...well m sorry i wont be able to provide you with sound clips coz m using internet through mobile...

There is no real secret to it. As you keep hearing them more and more often, you start to recognize them. Each of the chords has at least one distinct note which separates it from the other. For the major and the minor, its the 3rd. For the sus, its the 4th or the 2nd and for the dom, its the 3rd and the 7th. Try straining your ears and identifying these notes when you play the chord. The difference in intervals between these notes is not difficult to identify, all it takes is practice and a good ear.

flattening of 6th and 7th note is useful...for playing 4 note chords like Cminor7 ,Cminor6...

Click to expand...

right, as we play longer these notes would be memorized, i just remember the triad for all chords and build from there and it works quite well for me, diatonic scales are just stepping stones, way to go

you gotta hear hear hear different songs which contain these chords...for identifying chords i would recommend you to listen songs which have clean tones and not distorted...the songs of older times are more enriched...

The Secret:
1. Tune guitar exactly with the help of digituner tuner(NOT EAR)
2. Close your eyes and keep playing the C note at different intervals
3. Play the C note all over the fret board on all strings
4. Repeat same with all other notes
5. Close your eyes play any note on your guitar on any string (don't try to calculate in your mind according to the string no and where your hand is)
6. Within 2-3 weeks you'll be able to identify those notes on your guitar with correct guessing 33.33% of the time
7. Do this with chords, memorize the sounds. (Do first with major and minor)
8. Sit with another guitarist tell him to play a random major/minor chord and pick it out
9. Once you can do all this... move on to seventh/ninth etc. you should be able to identify the root note without memorizing them this time...
10. Now you should be able to identify chords in songs where you can hear the guitar

Please keep in mind-
While performing exercises your guitar should always be perfectly tuned...
Dont get disheartened if you make a lot of mistakes
thats normal
i still sometimes cannot identify the key of certain songs

Vow buddy, as Bon Jovi sung "Like a blind Dog without a bone, I was a gypsy lost in the twilight zone, I hijacked a rainbow and crashed into a pot of gold" I was actually lost in my self learning methods, I will follow your ideas closely from today, thank you very much for showing a direction

Vow buddy, as Bon Jovi sung "Like a blind Dog without a bone, I was a gypsy lost in the twilight zone, I hijacked a rainbow and crashed into a pot of gold" I was actually lost in my self learning methods, I will follow your ideas closely from today, thank you very much for showing a direction

but one should know how to tune a guitar with his ears also...thats a part of his ear training...maybe one should check the first string tuned at 'E' with the help of a tuner or a keyboard...and then try to tune the other strings accordingly by hearing...then if he wants to confirm whether he has tuned correctly or not he may use a tuner at that time...